The Tabernacle Erected and Its Equipment Installed

40

The L
ord spoke to Moses:2On the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.3You shall put in it the ark of the covenant, and you shall screen the ark with the curtain.4You shall bring in the table, and arrange its setting; and you shall bring in the lampstand, and set up its lamps.5You shall put the golden altar for incense before the ark of the covenant, and set up the screen for the entrance of the tabernacle.6You shall set the altar of burnt offering before the entrance of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting,7and place the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it.8You shall set up the court all around, and hang up the screen for the gate of the court.9Then you shall take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and consecrate it and all its furniture, so that it shall become holy.10You shall also anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and consecrate the altar, so that the altar shall be most holy.11You shall also anoint the basin with its stand, and consecrate it.12Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting, and shall wash them with water,13and put on Aaron the sacred vestments, and you shall anoint him and consecrate him, so that he may serve me as priest.14You shall bring his sons also and put tunics on them,15and anoint them, as you anointed their father, that they may serve me as priests: and their anointing shall admit them to a perpetual priesthood throughout all
generations to come.

16 Moses did everything just as the L
ord had commanded him.17In the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle was set up.18Moses set up the tabernacle; he laid its bases, and set up its frames, and put in its poles, and raised up its pillars;19and he spread the tent over the tabernacle, and put the covering of the tent over it; as the L
ord had commanded Moses.20He took the covenant and put it into the ark, and put the poles on the ark, and set the mercy seat above the ark;21and he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the curtain for screening, and screened the ark of the covenant; as the L
ord had commanded Moses.22He put the table in the tent of meeting, on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the curtain,23and set the bread in order on it before the L
ord; as the L
ord had commanded Moses.24He put the lampstand in the tent of meeting, opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle,25and set up the lamps before the L
ord; as the L
ord had commanded Moses.26He put the golden altar in the tent of meeting before the curtain,27and offered fragrant incense on it; as the L
ord had commanded Moses.28He also put in place the screen for the entrance of the tabernacle.29He set the altar of burnt offering at the entrance of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering as the L
ord had commanded Moses.30He set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it for washing,31with which Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet.32When they went into the tent of meeting, and when they approached the altar, they washed; as the L
ord had commanded Moses.33He set up the court around the tabernacle and the altar, and put up the screen at the gate of the court. So Moses finished the work.

The Cloud and the Glory

34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the L
ord filled the tabernacle.35Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled upon it, and the glory of the L
ord filled the tabernacle.36Whenever the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out on each stage of their journey;37but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day that it was taken up.38For the cloud of the L
ord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, before the eyes of all the house of Israel at each stage of their journey.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.

9. And thou shalt take the anointing oil There was by no means any virtue or efficacy for sanctification in the oil, except in so far as it was a type of the Spirit, from whom as its only source all holiness emanates. Assuredly the oil, as being a corruptible fluid, neither penetrates into the soul, nor
would by itself at all avail unto spiritual service. It appears, however, from many pnssages of Scripture, that it was a symbol of all the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This figure, therefore, clearly shews that nothing pleases God, that nothing is pure or holy in His sight, except what has been purged, and duly consecrated by the influence and grace of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, God would have all the vessels of the sanctuary set apart by this sacred anointing from common use, in order that the
Israelites might distinguish between things sacred and profane, and thus that God’s service might receive its due reverence, so that none should intrude the pollutions of the flesh into that place, the purity of which had been signalized by that sacred symbol. A question, however, here arises why he dignifies the altar of burnt-offering with a more exalted title; for, after having called the tabernacle itself with its vessels simply holy, He
calls the altar “holy of holies,” which I have rendered sacrosanctum. I doubt not but that it acquired this name from the sacrifices, which are also so called on account of the expiation made by them,
397397 See on Leviticus 6:25, ante,vol. 2, p. 366.
as we have seen elsewhere. The children of Israel, therefore, were instructed that God is truly reconciled by holocausts and burnt-offerings, since “the holiness of holinesses” resided on the altar itself.